Of course this idea is being promulgated by self identified marxists, who are also writing things like the following:
"Soviet communism (which isn’t Marxism) is a different beast. It is not an opposition to the left-brained self-talking brutality of the West but rather just a different version of it; in fact, by narratising the development of these two forms as a “struggle” or “war” in which one must emerge victorious and set the standard for the world, as was done in the Cold War between U.S. capitalism and Soviet communism, you stand a good chance of extending the life of either or both forms of barbarism. Think “1984″ and you will get the picture.It will never cease to amaze me how so many intelligent people can be so utterly stupid.
Nazism – fast burn – deadly
Soviet communism – medium burn – deadlier
Murkan capitalist hegemony – slow burn – deadliest?
Or if you prefer, think of the difference between a virus such as Ebola which quickly kills its victim and one such as HIV which works slowly, leaving its host just as dead but giving it enough time to spread surreptitiously and infect many more hosts, insuring its longevity. And then consider how the Murkan model has been successfully propagated throughout the rest of the world – Europe, Japan, India, China, and now the Middle East. If capitalistic squandering of natural resources continues apace, then we’re looking down the barrel of a bodycount in the BILLIONS:
http://www.dieoff.org
If anything the Marxists were optimists. They recognised the gross injustices of capitalism but expected the underclasses to be more aware, and more capable of revolution, than they turned out to be, and underestimated the effectiveness of the contrivers of American governance.
Comment by Jeff Read — Thursday, September 8 2005 @ 5:01 pm"
There are only three political philosophies:
1. The collective has rights, and those rights are superior to the rights of the individual
2. The individual has rights, but also responsibilities to the members of the collective. The collective has no rights, and those responsibilites owed to it's members are at best equal to the rights of the individual.
3. The individual has all rights which are superior, and no responsiblities
Fundamentally, that's all there is to it. I personally believe that if YOU believe in 1, or 3, no matter how smart you are, you're an idiot.
Anarchy and collectivism (3 and 1 respectively) are fundamnetaly wrong. Collectivism requires the subjugation of human freedom to the will of the collective in all things. I believe that this is objectively evil. Anarchy inevitably results in the total subjugation of the weak by the strong, which is also objectively evil.
If you believe in a "balance" between 1 and 2, you're wrong as well, because there is no balance between the two. Collectives do not have rights. Individuals have rights, and responsiblities are owed by individuals to the members of a collective. There are no collective rights.
If you believe in a balance between 2 and 3 you're wrong, there is no balance point. Either you owe responsibilities to the members of the collective, or you don't.
And no, I'm not going to softpedal this and say "this is my opinion". I believe that what I have said is objectively true, and not subject to opinion. My first principle is that the unwilling subjugation of human liberty is always objectively evil; unless it is to prevent an individual from transgressing upon the fundamental liberties of others.
I cannot comprehend how any other first principle could be correct.
If you are arguing from a different first principle, stop right now, because no useful discussion can occur between individuals who share different first principles on a subject; except as relates to those first principles themselves.
Now, try and convince me my first principle is wrong.
